Ricardo Arona (13-5 MMA) is probably one of the scariest grapplers in the world. For those who only remember him as the guy Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) knocked out after he KO’d Little Nog, or the guy that that Rampage TKO’d with the crazy powerbomb at Critical Countdown in 2004, it needs to be made clear how good Arona is on the ground.

In 2000, Arona made his first appearance at Abu Dhabi Combat Club, already an accomplished grappler (which you sort of have to be in order to get invited, though there are certainly levels of respect among elite grapplers). He took home the 88-98kg weight class. That same year he finished second at mudials in the blackbelt division, losing to Fabio Gurgel (3-2 MMA), perhaps one of the most respected grapplers in the world. Returning to ADCC in 2001, Arona again won his 88-98kg weightclass, and also took home the Open Weight division, which he had not competed in previously.

Arona is the only fighter in the history of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club to have an undefeated record at the tournament and have a championship, an incredible honor. His MMA career, however, has been rockier, and he has struggled to translate his jiu-jitsu into solid victories over top lightheavyweights, though his losses have all been to high profile fighters.

With Arona reportedly set to return at an event called Bitetti Combat IV in Rio De Janiero later this year, it’s worth acknowledging the man’s skill as a grappler, and his career as an MMA fighter.

That's a fair point, but he struggled against a lot of the guys who really ran the sport.

If you look at guys like Monson, who's not as good a grappler as Arona, one of the reasons he's had success is that he's figured out how to translate his game.

He was definitely a top ten fighter when he was active, but he struggled with Shogun and lost to Rampage. He only really has two wins over top ten 205ers, as far as I'm concerned, and those are the wins over Alistair (who's status was low top ten, if he was in there at all) and the win over Wanderlei (which was really impressive, though he really should've finished Wanderlei, since no one else did during that time frame, it's hard to hold it against him).

That sentence kind of sells Arona short, but what I'm trying to explain is that he was never really as dominant in MMA as he was in grappling, and a large part of that is that his point-style grappling wasn't necessarily suited for MMA the way that Demian Maia's game is.

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Originally Posted by Freelancer

He'll have a major ring rust case, I'm afraid.

Me too, which is why I'm glad he's fighting in a little show, probably against a no name. Shake the ring rust off.

That's a fair point, but he struggled against a lot of the guys who really ran the sport.

If you look at guys like Monson, who's not as good a grappler as Arona, one of the reasons he's had success is that he's figured out how to translate his game.

He was definitely a top ten fighter when he was active, but he struggled with Shogun and lost to Rampage. He only really has two wins over top ten 205ers, as far as I'm concerned, and those are the wins over Alistair (who's status was low top ten, if he was in there at all) and the win over Wanderlei (which was really impressive, though he really should've finished Wanderlei, since no one else did during that time frame, it's hard to hold it against him).

That sentence kind of sells Arona short, but what I'm trying to explain is that he was never really as dominant in MMA as he was in grappling, and a large part of that is that his point-style grappling wasn't necessarily suited for MMA the way that Demian Maia's game is.

Me too, which is why I'm glad he's fighting in a little show, probably against a no name. Shake the ring rust off.

Somebody once said that you can give a good excuse for every loss Arona had.Fedor - He did very well, many people think he won, and it's FEDOR.Rampage - He was winning the fight and was knocked out with an illegal headbutt.Shogun - he was tired after going the distance with Wand.Wand - split decision. Could have gone either way.Sokky - Arona had Dengue fever

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"He who defeats himself is the mightiest warrior" - Confucius(I think)

Somebody once said that you can give a good excuse for every loss Arona had.Fedor - He did very well, many people think he won, and it's FEDOR.Rampage - He was winning the fight and was knocked out with an illegal headbutt.Shogun - he was tired after going the distance with Wand.Wand - split decision. Could have gone either way.Sokky - Arona had Dengue fever

Haha, there's no such thing as a good excuse. You can get kicked in the crotch by Sebastian Janikowski, a loss is a loss, I'm sorry to say.

Still, they're all valid points.

I'd never heard the dengue fever defense for the Sokky fight, but I think "he got punched in the face really f*cking hard" is a better explanation for why he lost.